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Small Ripples of Change

Something wonderful happened tonight! Change happened: 21 teachers from 10+ districts discovered the world of Web 2.0. It started with an email request. I asked my professor for a few minutes after class to play with the Smartboard to troubleshoot a new Prezi I created for an upcoming seminar presentation on Tuesday. It turned into an impromptu mini workshop, in which I introduced my peers to Prezi and Wallwisher.

While I was showing my classmates how to embed YouTube videos on Prezi, I shared the video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today, to use as an example. It was one of the videos I planned to use in my Prezi on teacher technology integration. The professor was intrigued and asked me to play the video for everyone. She was so struck by the video that she decided to change our final assessments!

She remarked:

“I feel horrible. We talk and talk about advanced instructional design and differentiation in class, but here is an opportunity to put it into real motion. I forget that you are also digital learners – so I’m going to scrap the 3 differentiated lesson plans! You are to turn in 1 differentiated lesson plan, and then work individually or in groups on a 2nd lesson plan that integrates technology.”

Talk about change! Immediately the room was buzzing with excitement and ideas. Teachers went from tired to enthusiastic, and many of them were amazed by the possibilities opened by just two Web 2.0 tools. Some commented:

“That was amazing! I had no idea that existed. I can’t wait to bring this back to my school and share it with the other teachers and with my students.”

I have to be honest… it was very scary at first when I was put on the spot to share the tools, especially since I myself have just begun to use Prezi and Wallwisher in the last two weeks. However, as I surveyed the room while navigating the screen, it was amazing to see how engrossed the teachers were with the video and short tutorials. It was an indescribable feeling, knowing that I helped create a small ripple of change in the waters of education.

I can’t wait for the next three weeks of class and see how the teachers ran off with the newly revised final project. Next week, two math teachers volunteered to share a lesson plan using technology for the class. Who would’ve thought a small step can lead to a big change!